Fury Must Beat Joshua And Usyk To Become A Great – Says Hearn
Tyson Fury must beat Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk to secure his legacy.
That is according to Eddie Hearn. The attempts at making a fight involving Fury with Joshua or Usyk have failed so far.
Two 60-40 offers were made to get a bout with Joshua, however, they did not result in a fight.
The first one was prior to Fury’s fight with Derek Chisora. However, Joshua had just come suffered two losses to Usyk, as ‘AJ’ faced Jermaine Franklin instead.
The second offer on the same terms was for a fight in the summer. However, Joshua’s camp chose Dillian Whyte instead, as they target a potential super fight with Deontay Wilder in Saudi.
Meanwhile, talks with Usyk broke down despite the Ukrainian accepting a 70-30 split for a potential fight at Wembley in April.
Since then, Fury has agreed to fight Francis Ngannou on October 28th, 2023, in what will be the former UFC heavyweight champion’s boxing debut.
That naturally has not gone down well, as the failure to fight a legitimate boxer has raised questions over Fury’s legacy. With that being said, this is what Hearn had to say.
“He needs to beat Usyk and AJ and then we can talk about him – as I believe he is – as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Listen, he’s unbelievable. What he’s come back from, incredible, couldn’t commend him more.
“But to create a legacy, to create that history, to go down as a modern day great, to put yourself up with [Muhammad] Ali, Lennox Lewis, Joe Frazier, those guys, he’s got to beat Usyk. And he’s got to beat Anthony Joshua. But particularly Usyk,” Hearn
Ultimately, Fury is in a position where he can dictate the fights that he wants. And as long as he holds the WBC belt, the ‘Gypsy King’ can use that as leverage.
But whether he does face Joshua and Usyk will depend on agreeing a deal that satisfies the champion. And so far, that has failed to materialize.
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